487. 'Days means periods of time and states in general. This has been shown in Chapter 1, where the 'days of creation' have no other meaning. In the Word it is very common for a whole period of time to be called 'a day', as it clearly is in the present verse and in verses 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 27, 31, below; and therefore the states that belong to periods of time in general are meant by 'days' as well. And when 'years' is attached, then periods of years mean the natures of those states, and so the states in particular.

[2] The most ancient people had their own particular numbers which they would use to mean different aspects of the Church - for instance, the numbers three, seven, ten, twelve, and many which they obtained from these and other numbers - and in so doing incorporated states of the Church. These numbers therefore contain arcana that would require considerable effort to unravel. Really a number was an evaluation of the states of the Church. The same feature occurs throughout the Word, especially in the prophetical. And the religious ceremonies of the Jewish Church also entail numbers specifying periods of time as well as quantities; for example, in connection with sacrifices, minchahs, oblations, and other practices, which in every case have special reference to holy things. Consequently eight hundred in this verse, nine hundred and thirty in the next, and the numbers of years mentioned in the verses that follow after that, embody in particular more matters than can possibly be retold; matters, that is to say, which have to do with changes in the state of their Church in relationship to their own general state. Later on, in the Lord's Divine mercy, the meaning of the simple numbers up to twelve will be given, for without knowing these first of all no one can grasp what compound numbers mean.

2318. 'The two angels came to Sodom in the evening' means the visitation which takes place prior to judgement. This becomes clear from the statements made by the three men, that is, by Jehovah, in the previous chapter, also from what follows in the present chapter, as well as from the meaning of 'the evening'. In the previous chapter Jehovah said, 'I will go down and I will see whether the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have done altogether according to the cry which has come to Me; and if not, I will know', verses 20-21. At that point it was shown that those words meant the visitation that takes place prior to judgement. In the present chapter the actual process of visitation is described and after that judgement, as is evident from what follows. That 'evening' means the time when visitation takes place will be seen below. As for what visitation is and the fact that visitation takes place prior to judgement, see 2242. In the previous chapter the subject was the corrupt state of the human race and the Lord's grief and intercession on behalf of those who are immersed in evil and yet with whom some good and truth exist. The present chapter therefore goes on to deal with the salvation of those with whom some good and truth exist, it being these who are represented in this chapter by Lot. At the same time it deals with the destruction of those who are immersed completely in evil and falsity, it being these who are meant here by Sodom and Gomorrah.